Has the NHS gone fully mad?!

[kellykell]

Hi everyone, hope things are going okay for you all.

I m going to share a little story with you that happened last Tuesday.

At work I stepped down a 3 foot drop and my left ankle gave way causing my foot to roll under my leg, I fell onto the ground with awful pain in my ankle. Managed to get inside and remove footwear to see a huge swollen lump on the ankle joint, with no ability to weight bear at all...pic 1.

So due to that fact I think it's fractured...off to Swindon A+E, which is my local hospital. I borrowed some crutches, we went to the reception desk where the receptionist carried on typing and without looking up said "I ll be with you in a minute". When finished her first words were "date of Birth"! No sorry to have kept you or how can I help, so not off to a good start! So what happened to customer care training? I 've not been to A+E for about 10 years now so a bit out of date!!!

Then go through to the nurse, who looks at ankle & agrees it needs an x ray, so she asks the usual heath questions..."are you of good health"? "No I have Addison's" "What's that"? Are you joking me? This is the hospital I would be taken to by ambulance if I had a crisis!!! I wear a silicon steroid dependant band and a sos talisman bracelet & the nurse does not know what Addison's is????!!!!

Moving on, x ray done seen doctor, now the fun starts...He does not think there's a fracture but soft tissue injury. He has heard of Addisons but has not taken on that healing is soooo much slower. I told him I had borrowed the crutches from a disabled neighbour just so I could get into hospital, so he sent me home without any crutches told me to use a heat pack on it and did not even have the ankle bandaged to give support!! Was I supposed to hop for the next 24 hours?

It only took about 3 hours so that was n't too bad & fair enough for the process, it was everything else!!!

The NHS website for a sprain states RICE rest/ice (so no heat pack then!)/compression(bandage)/elevation...basic 1st aid! Also states for a severe grade 3 sprain (the worst sprain one can have before a break) that a cast for 2 weeks & crutches may be needed!

The Dr also said to weight bear the next day! Like that was possible!!!

I know the NHS does a wonderful job some of the time but for me (& many others it is falling very short of providing a satisfactory service) this was nice and simple...not like finding Lymes disease, which I was told I did not have or Addison's both funded and diagnosed privately. What is happening to our paid for medical care? How is it that service providers are not trained to ask simple questions...do you have help at home? How will you manage with your work? Do you need a sick

note ? Does your illness impact on this injury? Do you feel like a crisis is coming on due to the stress & pain of this injury? And so on.

Anyway this is what has happened to this soft tissue injury over the last 7 days...without being supported by a simple cheap bandage or given crutches!!! The last pic is today a week on!

Isn't time we all started asking questions & took charge of our own health & healing...I played along with this as I am an NLP practitioner & know about asking questions (meta modelling) just to have a better understanding of what the people have to go through these days...it was n't a pleasant experience!!

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

And when the NHS disintegrates (I'm sure it will at some point) and we have to pay for our health care (I'm sure we will at some point - gosh I sound like a stuck record!) then I sincerely hope we get better treatment/customer care than that!

I hope your ankle heals soon

[humanbean in reply to SeasideSusie]

I am not optimistic. I think we are being softened up to expect poor treatment in an insurance system which is run for profit.

[Steni in reply to humanbean]

Oh no I don't agree, it's the lack of profit that allows this sort of treatment to go unchallenged. If you run your own Buisness as I do I can assure you that getting customer right is the only way to ensure profit. Treat people badly and they will go elsewhere. Unfortunately there is no free alternative to the NHS

[humanbean in reply to Steni]

I really have no expectations of getting good healthcare - or possibly any healthcare - in an insurance system. I have too many pre-existing conditions and nobody would make a profit out of me.

At least under the NHS I still get covered for some things.

[Steni in reply to humanbean]

Yes of course.... that's a shame if you haven't been covered from the word go you are a bit stuck I see that.😞

[kellykell in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you

[Steni in reply to SeasideSusie]

As a regular user of private health care and having witnessed and used NHS care too, I can categorically say that in my opinion this attitude is not unusual and would ever be tolerated in a private setting, where patients are treated to kindness not thinly disguised contempt.

Life saving work aside, the NHS delivers institutionally supported neglect for the ordinary ailments. My experience of a severely broken wrist last summer was a case in point. The treatment of my terminally ill best friend earlier this year was another example. Very sad situation indeed.

[shaws Administrator]

Your ankle looks bad and I'm sorry you've had a difficult time. It would appear that there's no initial training at all for people working in different departments particularly basic first aid in your case. Why cannot they treat injuries. They sent you home without your neighbour's crutches! You must have been exhausted by the time you got home.

[kellykell in reply to shaws]

Thank you...I went home with the crutches but had to give them back to neighbour as she is reliant on them, it was just a loan just to get me to the hospital.( We all thought I would be issued a pair from the hospital!) The doctor was told this though! I got very good a hopping!!!

[humanbean]

Can you go back to A&E with someone to support you i.e. a husband, partner, friend, relative who will stand up for you and insist on proper treatment?

[Hidden]

Ouch kellykell that looks nasty. Funnily enough I ended up in that very hospital a few years ago via ambulance as I'd been found unconscious lying in the road with my bike beside me. I'm grateful that this meant I had scans and x-rays done. There was a distinct lack of pleasantries or interest from the nursing staff considering I had a head injury and was in there for a few days. Also expected the Police to have been informed but they weren't.

Get well soon!

[kellykell]

What I find scary is this injury is so in your face obvious! Thyroid & Adrenal issues are so hidden & at times difficult to get to the bottom of with a wide range of symptoms. So if there is such a failing with a nice easy full view problem ...what chance do we have with the hidden health issues???

[Hidden in reply to kellykell]

Yep, you're spot on there kellykell and it is frightening. I have zero confidence in NHS doctors, they'd much rather blame the patient than admit to their own shortcomings. If you want pleasant nursing staff you need to head South from Swindon to the bottom of the County.

All we can do is share our experiences, my friends and family have had their eyes opened watching me deteriorate.

[lc1973]

Sorry you have had such appalling treatment or should i say lack of it. I'm afraid i am experiencing this too, not so much rudeness or ignorance by staff but more so from a cost cutting perspective. I do think it is the state of things to come sadly. I have mentioned to a so called NHS specialist that i would like to stop paying contributions to the NHS and pay privately but one of the private consultants i saw was also NHS and they seemed to be in dire straights too. I'm not offering any comfort or reassurance am i! I do hope you get your injury sorted soon kellykell.

[kellykell in reply to lc1973]

Thank you. It is a sad state of affairs. I think more people are looking outside the box including medical staff them selves,(as some have gone into functional medicine as they have realised that current treatments or lack of are not working) to find help elsewhere than at the local GP and then follow up from a specialist. I note there are so many people on health unlocked asking where to source their meds from other than the NHS, and that includes me too!

Change has to happen and for the better.

[lc1973 in reply to kellykell]

It certainly is a sad state of affairs. I have to say my GP is brilliant but her hands are very tied by the CCG any any other bod who wishes to prevent her in best treating me and other patients how she would wish to.

[ary88]

Hi Kelly,I've had a lot of visits to NHS hospital a over past 7 yrs,with similar poor treatment with various friends/relatives,and your right ti be concerned.My experiences have shown me that,the training of medics,nurses,carers has been dumbed down by the institutions both in this country and those abroad.😔

[Hidden]

I would contact PALS, a complaint should be made. If we just accept poor customer service then what is the incentive to change. Not only was the service poor it could have been life threatening. You could have gone into crisis due to the shock or pain. I wouldn't be confident that they would have been prompt with their treatment!

[kellykell in reply to Hidden]

That's the purpose of this exercise! I have kept a daily photo record & checked out treatment recommendations from many health websites including the HHS site for this type of injury, all stating that crutches should of been issued and at the very least a bandage and the best a walker boot or a cast. I will be contacting PALS over this as the lack of awareness is totally unexceptable from the receptionist to the nurse & the doctor. X ray dept were brilliant! Very cheerful & helpful.

The nurse we saw grumbled at the fact I had put a cold Witchazel compress & loose bandage around my ankle to start the PRICE action, so the bandage is protection, rest has not happened yet! Did nt have ice so used cold Witchazel instead! Bandage again is compression & did get to the elevation part either!! She said "we don't do that anymore, you should not of put that on, & it should not of been bandaged up". So what is all this PRICE or RICE about then???

I am willing to shout out to make changes. I still have not been issued my emergency injection. I have got one from abroad where it is sold OTC same for HC, as I work & travel in remote areas without mobile coverage & also play in the mountains of North wales. In fact my whole Adrenal story is privately funded and my meds also come from overseas as even with full lab results I have not been given any assistance through my GP. I stepped out of the NHS for 9 years as I was not getting anywhere, they said I did not have Lymes, a private test in Denmark proved I did to a very high level & I was treated through the alternative route. My CD57 markers were -11 the range is 130 to 300! 3 months ago I started with a new practice to get a blood test done...Im paying my NI stamp so why should I have to keep paying for my own tests? My TSH came back below range & the Ferritin was low. The lab decided not to do the T4, T3 and antibodies even though the doctor had hand written on the form for this to be done. This is common practice that the lab decides whether to run a test or not over ruling the GP! It took 3 phone calls, 2 trips to the practice and 3 emails to get the printed results. They said "results came back normal no further action"

What is so worrying is the lack of attention in an A&E dept to what is a life threatening illness, with a huge stress physical injury to bring on a crisis, I was not asked anything about how I was handling the body stress or if I had taken a stress dose or even if I was feeling unwell? So if I had dropped into a shock response would they of responded in the correct way? IV Hydrocortisone! I really do wonder?

[Debs1960]

Ouch that looks really painful and while I can't offer you any advice I can say it's going to get worse before it gets better if it does before the NHS is completely disintegrated I work for the NHS though in mental health and that is no better lack of money always cost improvements I had a fantastic GP who unfortunately left when I asked her why she said "before I have a nervous breakdown I can't give my patients any quality of care or diagnosis them in the 5 mins we are allowed per patient" what a complete waste of a brilliant dr who would always go above and beyond hope you ankle soon improves xx